Saturday, January 17, 2015

Five stalwarts to look out for in the cricket World Cup 2015: 1. Abraham de Villiers. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s new book ‘Indian Spring’

Priceless asset for the Proteas

World
Cup matches…..15

Highest
score…..146

Runs…..725

Average…..51.78

Strike-rate…..104.31

100s…..3

50s…..3

Catches…..6

That he is a
natural sportsman is apparent from A.B. de Villiers’ batting and fielding, his
fluid movements and innate elegance. Technically sound and naturally aggressive
at the top or in the middle-order, keen of eye, agile behind the wickets and
close to the bat, fleet-footed in the outfield, he is a priceless asset for the
Proteas. Dashing as well as reliable, in good times and in a crisis, de
Villiers is a captain’s dream. His World Cup record is evidence of all these
attributes.

The start,
though, was not so brilliant in the 2007 World Cup against the weekenders from
the Netherlands. Opening the batting with skipper Graeme Smith, de Villiers was
caught behind off the second ball of the match for a duck. South Africa
registered a 221-run win.

He set the
record right in another stroll in Warner Park with the Scots, who raised a
total of 186. Smith and de Villiers made short work of the target with a spate
of boundaries, hoisting the fifty in 6.3 overs. Smith got to his half-century
first, the hundred of the innings came up in 12.2 overs, and de Villiers raised
his fifty in 41 balls. And then he hammered Glenn Rogers for two consecutive
sixes over long-on, before holing out in the same direction. His 62 came off 45
deliveries punctuated by 9 boundaries and the 2 sixes. The partnership was
worth 134 in 15.5 overs. Smith missed his century by 9 runs, and South Africa
raced to a seven-wicket win in 23.2 overs.

The Aussie
run-machine churned out 377 runs for six wickets, Matthew Hayden slamming the
then fastest World Cup hundred in 66 balls, and Ricky Ponting and Michael
Clarke losing their wickets in the nineties. All eight batsmen on show had a
strike-rate of 100 or above. Smith and de Villiers made a tremendous effort
against the formidable attack. De Villiers set the tone, stroking left-armer
Nathan Bracken for a four and a six off consecutive deliveries in the first
over. There were five more boundaries by the pair in the first 5 overs. The
great Glenn McGrath came on now and de Villiers hit him for three successive
boundaries rightaway in the arc between mid-wicket and point. There was a lull
as McGrath and Bracken conceded only 3 runs in the next 15 deliveries. The duo
was back to their aggressive best, clouting fours and sixes with regularity.
This time de Villiers was first to his half-century in 47 balls, and
immediately lofted McGrath over mid-on to the boundary, raising the hundred in
13.1 overs, and replicating the shot in the same over. Smith’s fifty came up in
41 balls. Soon de Villiers rocketed Brad Hogg over long-on for a six. In the
next over he turned on Andrew Symonds, who had a fixation for the short-pitched
ball, pulling him for three consecutive boundaries. Just as the Aussies might
have been worried and de Villiers was racing towards his hundred, came a turn
in fortunes. A powerful direct hit from long-leg by Shane Watson had de
Villiers run out for 92, the same unfortunate manner of dismissal and the same
score as Clarke. His brilliant knock had occupied only 70 deliveries, studded
with 14 fours and those 2 sixes. The partnership had tallied 160 in just 21
overs and put the Proteas right on track. Soon Smith began cramping, de Villiers
was back as runner, but both had to return after a while as the captain’s
condition was too debilitating to continue. Then wickets began to crumble
regularly, Smith was back but dismissed soon for 74, the procession continued
and South Africa were bowled out for 294 in 48 overs. Watson’s throw and
Smith’s cramps might have pre-empted a thriller in St. Kitts.

The pendulum
swung again as de Villiers was bowled by Chaminda Vaas for another duck in the
super-eight clash with Sri Lanka, but South Africa pulled off a humdinger by
one wicket as Lasith Malinga scythed through the tail with four wickets off
consecutive deliveries spanning two overs.

There was a
successive duck for de Villiers as the lanky Irish paceman Boyd Rankin had him
caught, trying to square-cut one that bounced more than expected. But an easy
win was logged up as expected.

Then
giant-killers Bangladesh upset South Africa too. Having strung together 251 for
eight, the Bangladesh bowlers kept a stranglehold. Smith (12) and Jacques Kallis
(32) departed after putting up an aggressive posture. At the other end of the
scale, de Villiers tried to grit it out but was bowled by an armer from Abdur
Razzak for 15, having been in for 39 deliveries. Wickets kept tumbling and
South Africa were beaten by 67 runs.

Pitted opposite
hosts West Indies, de Villiers atoned handsomely for his failures. He lost
Smith early but aligned with Kallis in a huge partnership. Kallis was in a
belligerent mood but de Villiers caught up with him and hammered Dwayne Bravo
for a four and a six off successive balls, raising his fifty in 58 deliveries.
The century partnership came in 15.4 overs. They went on merrily until Kallis
was bowled for 81, the partnership worth 170 off 28.2 overs. As Herschelle
Gibbs joined him, a delighted de Villiers ushered in his first hundred in
One-day Internationals, having faced 114 balls. He soon strained his hamstring
and Smith returned the favour by running for him. Having decided to wield the
big stick while he could, de Villiers lashed out at Chris Gayle, clouting 2
sixes in the 40th over, with Gibbs striking a four of his own in
between. De Villiers unleashed his willow on Ramnaresh Sarwan in the next over,
clouting him over mid-wicket for consecutive sixes and a four to point a couple
of balls later. Now in considerable strife, de Villiers slammed two boundaries
off Bravo in the following over. Soon Corey Collymore had him caught for 146,
ending the mayhem of 130 deliveries in which he blasted 12 fours and 5 sixes.
Gibbs’ contribution was 18 in a stand of 70 in 7.5 overs. South Africa went on
to amass 356 for four. After a bit of rest, de Villiers was back on the field
and took a fine diving catch at point. West Indies fought gamely right down the
order but could not manage more than 289, having lost nine wickets. De Villiers
took away the man-of-the-match prize for his heroic knock.

The Kiwis
tripped the Proteas by five wickets, and astonishingly de Villiers bagged his
fourth duck of the tournament. The pendulum was swinging wildly.

South Africa
fought back, trouncing England by nine wickets in the last super-eight
encounter. Chasing a target of 155, de Villiers was off to a blazing start
hitting Sajid Mahmood for 2 fours in each of his first two overs. Smith joined
in the boundary hitting mode and the fifty was up in 5.4 overs. The duo
continued to find the pickets until de Villiers edged one to the wicketkeeper.
His 42 comprised 8 boundaries spanning 35 deliveries. The opening stand had
realized 85 runs in 9.5 overs overs. Smith (89 not out, 58 balls, 13 fours) and
Kallis brought up victory in 19.2 overs.

The Aussies
were unstoppable in the semi-final, skittling the Proteas for 149 in less than
44 overs, Andrew Hall drawing first blood with a brilliant haul of five for 18
in his 10 overs. De Villiers was third out for 15, none of their batsmen got to
fifty, and they were defeated by seven wickets.

It was a
strange kind of World Cup for de Villiers, being dismissed for four ducks and
two 15s in 10 innings, still averaging 37.20 without a not out, and with the
help of a century, a near-century, a half-century, and a near half-century.
Indeed de Villiers and South Africa experienced a whole range of emotions in
this tournament. The elegant strokemaker, though, entertained all the while,
well illustrated by his strike-rate of 100.81 runs per hundred balls.

With Hashim
Amla now in the side, de Villiers was batting down the order in the 2011 World
Cup, and donning the big gauntlets when required, a mark of his talent and
versatility. West Indies totalled 222 and then dismissed Amla and Kallis early.
De Villiers joined Smith at 20 for two after 5 overs, and was soon into his
stride, stroking speedster Kemar Roach for three exquisite boundaries in an
over. The half-century of the stand came up in 9.1 overs. True to type, de
Villiers skipped down the wicket to Chris Gayle and sent the ball sailing over
long-on for a six, raising his fifty at a-run-a-ball. The century stand arrived
in 19.4 overs, and soon after de Villiers tonked the slow left-armer Suleiman
Benn for a four and a six on the off-side off successive deliveries. Smith was
bowled in the next over, the partnership worth 119 in 23.3 overs. There was
still some work to do as Jean-Paul Duminy joined in, and apart from an early
boundary each in their partnership, they concentrated on picking up the ones
and twos. A bit of rain halted play for a few minutes, and immediately after de
Villiers raised his century off 97 deliveries, the quickest by a South African
in the World Cup, and a successive one against the West Indies in the premier
event. They brought up victory in 42.5 overs, de Villiers unbeaten on 107,
having faced 105 balls and stroked 8 fours and 2 sixes. The partnership was
worth 84 off 14.2 overs. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir with his bag of four for 41 on
debut, was a contender for the man-of-the-match award, but de Villiers
eventually got the nod. The campaign had begun on the right note.

Morne van Wyk
was given the responsibility behind the sticks in the workout versus the Dutch,
leaving de Villiers free to concentrate on his run-getting. And he did get the
runs in glorious fashion after Smith and Kallis had departed just after the
fifty had been posted. Amla was now de Villiers’ associate in a huge
partnership. After a bit of a look-in, de Villiers beautifully on-drove Ryan
ten Doeschate to the boundary, and off the next delivery cut him powerfully
above point for another four. He brought up his fifty off 47 balls, as the
paired cruised. The hundred of the stand came up in 16.1 overs. Amla sailed to
his ton in 121 deliveries. They raised the termpo with the commissioning of the
batting Powerplay in the 42nd over, de Villiers crashing Pieter
Seelaar for a six and four off successive deliveries, and Amla striking another
boundary a ball later. A Mudassar Bukhari yorker was despatched to the point
boundary by de Villiers, who reached his hundred with a single off the last
ball of the over. This was now the fastest hundred by a South African in the
World Cup, off 88 balls. In the next over he launched Bernard Loots for on-side
sixes off the first three deliveries to log up the double-century partnership
in 28 overs. Amla helped himself to a four off the fifth ball. It was ten
Doeschate’s turn in the following over and de Villiers now struck three
consecutive off-side boundaries straighaway. Two balls later ten Doeschate had
Amla caught at point for 113, scored off 130 deliveries containing 8 fours. The
stand was worth 221 in 29.2 overs. A cricketing cliché showed up once again as
de Villiers was run out in the next over. Both partners were dismissed in quick
succession after a long partnership. His superb 134 spanned just 98 deliveries
and was embellished with 13 glorious hits to the boundary and 4 sailing high
above it. The later batsmen too enjoyed themselves and South Africa ended up
with 351 for five. Holland were bowled out for 120. It was a successive hundred
as well as man-of-the-match prize for de Villiers in the first two matches of
this tournament.

A low-scoring
thriller at Chepauk went England’s way by just 6 runs. Tahir (four for 38) and
Robin Peterson (three for 22) spun out the English for 171 in 45.4 overs. South
Africa began well, Amla and Smith raising 63 in 14.1 overs. Then the wheels
began to come off with three wickets gone in just about 5 overs. De Villiers
and Faf du Plessis gritted it out, adding 42 runs in 12.2 overs but England
began striking back. Shouldering arms to James Anderson, de Villiers found to
his dismay that the ball had grazed his off-stump. In an innings of 25
completely out of character, de Villiers had not hit a single boundary in a
stay off 44 balls. Two more wickets fell at the same score, another after 3
runs, van Wyk and Dale Steyn raised hopes only to be dashed as the last three wickets
crashed for 5 runs.

Another
nerve-wracking encounter took place with hosts India at Jamtha, Nagpur, but
this time it was a high-scoring one that South Africa managed to pull off with
just 2 balls to go. India were propelled by Sachin Tendulkar’s 99th
international hundred, but Steyn pulled it back for South Africa with a
five-wicket haul. With the asking-rate hovering around 7.5 runs per over, de
Villiers joined forces with Kallis at 127 for two. His first big hit was a six
over mid-wicket off Harbhajan Singh. Kallis was run out for 69 with the score
reading 173 for three with the required rate climbing close to 9. The batting
Powerplay was availed of immediately as Duminy arrived, and the boundaries
started flowing. Both batsmen found the ropes off Ashish Nehra’s over. Seven
runs came off each ball of a Zaheer Khan over without a boundary. Again the
pair hit a four each off Munaf Patel. Then Zaheer bore the brunt with de
Villiers hitting 2 boundaries and Duminy a six. Harbhajan came on in an effort to
slow down the pace in more ways than one, but de Villiers defty lofted the ball
to the ropes backward of square, ringing in his half-century. He swept the next
delivery hard but was caught at square-leg. His 52 had come off 39 deliveries
and he had struck 6 fours and a six. Virtually every batsman contributed to the
cause, South Africa managing to scrape through just in time with three wickets
to spare, Peterson swinging the bat with abandon in the final over.

Having been
rested in the last two league games with Ireland and Bangladesh, de Villiers
was back in the quarter-final face-off with New Zealand, and with the
wicketkeeping gloves too. The Kiwis posted 221 for eight. After the early loss
of Amla, Smith and Kallis put on 61 runs. Then the Jacob Oram magic started
taking effect with the scalp of Smith. Things seemed on course with Kallis and
de Villiers in charge but a brillant catch on the mid-wicket boundary by Oram
sent Kallis on his way. Duminy did not last long, but another run out of de
Villiers two balls later was a huge blow. The sight of de Villiers sprawled on
the turf as he dived desperately for the crease might have been symbolic of
what lay in store for his team. His 40-ball 35 was studded with 4 fours. Oram
went on to bag four for 39, and South Africa crashed out, beaten by 49
runs.

It was a superb
tournament for de Villiers, having scored 353 runs in 5 matches with an average
of 88.25. A strike-rate of 108.28 and 2 hundreds and a fifty were proof of his
brilliant form. Unfortunately, his team had faltered once again in the final
stages of a World Cup.

South Africa could not ask for more of de
Villiers in the World Cup. A tally of more than 700 runs, average above 50,
strike-rate over 100, 3 hundreds, 3 fifties, versatile with the bat and in the
field. With plenty of time still to go it is hard to imagine what de Villiers
will achieve, and in endearing, spectacular fashion. He is definitely poised to
be counted amongst the greats.

(From the Hall of Fame section of Indra Vikram Singh’s new book ‘Indian
Spring’. The author can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Indian Spring

ISBN
978-81-901668-7-4

Will be available
shortly in leading bookshops, and online on several websites.

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About Me

Scion of the princely house of Rajpipla, now in the province of Gujarat, India, and descendant of the ancient Gohil Rajput dynasty, Indra Vikram Singh is a sportsman, entrepreneur, writer, author, editor and publisher. He is author of 'Test Cricket - End of the Road?' (1992), 'World Cup Cricket' (2002), 'The Little Big Book of World Cup Cricket' (2007 and 2011 editions), 'The Big Book of World Cup Cricket' (2011), 'A Maharaja's Turf' (2011) on the triumph of his grandfather Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla in the Epsom Derby of England in 1934, 'Don's Century' (2011) which is a biography of Don Bradman and a panorama of batting from the 1860s to the present times, and 'Crowning Glory' (2011) and 'Indian Spring' (2015), both on India's triumph in the ICC World Cup 2011. A talented allround cricketer, he captained teams of both his school and college. He was the moving force behind the setting up of sports complexes in Delhi in the latter part of the 1980s and early 1990s, and is now setting up a heritage resort.